If you've taken any type of Biology class, you’ve likely studied DNA. Generally, DNA is the blueprint for life: It stores the genetic code for all living organisms. Virtually every cell in your body contains the exact same DNA code — and no two people have the same code. Even the tiniest parts of your cells contain the hardwiring for your existence. Spiritually, we’re also programmed with a kind of DNA. Just as we inherited a physical generic blueprint from our ancestors, we’ve also inherited their sin. It permeates every part of … [Read more...]
Why the Easter Celebration Deserves a Second Look
If you’re like most americans, you start playing Christmas carols — “O Holy Night” and “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” — at least a month before Christmas. You spend hours wrapping gifts and hanging lights, jaunting off to countless Christmas parties. But in the weeks leading up to Easter, do you sit around listening to “up from the Grave He Arose?” or RSVPing to that rockin’ Easter party? Not so much. Why the lack of enthusiastic preparation for the holiday celebrating Christ’s resurrection? Like Christmas, Easter plays a pivotal … [Read more...]
Easter is About Justice
But wait—Easter is about us, right? It’s about our hope? It’s about our security? It’s about our salvation? Yes, and no. The whole Easter thing, in a bigger sense, is about justice. It’s about God. It’s about God re-affirming His commitment to justice and confirming His perfect nature again. Coming into the very first Good Friday, the perfection of God was in doubt. See if God is perfect, then all His attributes must be the perfect expression of that attribute. Take His love for example. We tend to think of love as we think … [Read more...]
Lent: Meeting Jesus in the Wilderness
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. Matthew 4:1 For those unfamiliar with the liturgical calendar of the Christian church, one of the most important times of the year occurs during the 40 days leading up to Easter—a season called Lent. For Christians who take this season seriously, Lent is more than giving up chocolate; it’s a time of sober reflection on the sacrifice of Jesus; a time when we internalize Christ’s life and death by practicing self-denial and self-reflection. During … [Read more...]